Chain link fencing is commonplace and is used to provide a barrier around such areas as private gardens and the like. Chain link fencing includes a network of wires that are intertwined to form a mesh of alternating generally rectilinear holes, which provide a discrete, almost invisible barrier. A number of horizontal and vertical support bars support the wire mesh. There may be times, however, when a user requires more privacy than the chain link fencing provides. A series of elongated plastic slats may be threaded through the holes to provide more privacy to the user and to improve the esthetic appearance of the chain link fence. Caps are typically placed onto the upper ends of the slats to keep the slats together and provide ornamentation to the upper end of the fence.
A few cap designs exist, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,533, issued Jul. 29, 1997 to Ling for “Cap for Chain Link Fence”. Ling's patent discloses a cap system that includes two legs having two flexible securing fingers, which appear to resiliently engage respective slats and to secure them in place. Disadvantageously, this design appears to be only suitable for hollow type slats and may not be adaptable for use with solid slats. In addition, in the above design the securing fingers may be difficult to disengage from the slats if the user needs to disengage the slats from the chain link fence. To accommodate the cap, the slats may have to be modified using difficult precision cutting techniques. Moreover, specialized mold technology may be needed to produce the caps of the above design, which may increase the cost of the caps.
Thus there is a need for an improved retainer cap.